The pre-stage analysis over at velownews had said that the riders’ speed was likely to benefit from west wind blowing in from the nearby Atlantic Ocean offering the possibility of a record.
BTW, the record speed for a course of longer than 50km was set at 53.986 kph by Armstrong over the 58.5km Freiburg-Mulhouse stage 19 in 2000.
Sweet. I may watch it again.